Past simple, past continuous and present perfect

Past simple, past continuous and present perfect tense

by Duyen Le

Multiple Choice

Last week, we didn't go to work because we ______ very ill.

• was

• were

• wasn't

• weren't

Multiple Choice

Which sentence is correct?

• Did they speak in English?

• Did they speaked in English?

• Do they spoke in English?

• Did they spoke in English?

Multiple Choice

Which sentence is correct?

• You didn't listenned to the teacher.

• You didn't listened to the teacher.

• You don't listened to the teacher.

• You didn't listen to the teacher.

Multiple Choice

Which sentence is correct?

• Did we give her a present?

• Did we gived her a present?

• Did we gave her a present?

• Do we gave her a present?

Multiple Choice

My parents _________ me to Lantau island for a picnic when I was five years old.

• take

• takes

• took

• will take

Multiple Choice

Did you call him ...................... ?

• yesterday

• the day after

• tomorrow

• right now

• What happened? - The phone rang. (past simple)

• What was Jack doing when the phone rang? - He was reading a book. (past continuous)

• What did Jack do when the phone rang? - He stopped reading and answered it. (past simple)

Multiple Choice

Lucy broke her arm last week. It happened when she ... her room.

• painted

• was painting

Multiple Choice

The train arrived at the station and Paula ... (get) off. Two friends of hers, John and Rachel, ... (wait) for her.

• got, were waiting

• got, waited

• was getting, waited

• was getting, were waiting

Multiple Choice

What _____ at around 8 a.m. this morning?

• were you doing

• have you done

• did you do

Multiple Choice

Yesterday, Sue ... (walk) along the street when she ... (meet) James.

• walked, met

• was walking, was meeting

• walked, was meeting

• was walking, met

Multiple Choice

He didn't hear the phone ring. He _____ to really loud music.

• listened

• has listened

• was listening

Multiple Choice

Correct or Incorrect:

My sister was chatting with her friends when the bell was ringing.

• Correct

• Incorrect

Present Perfect Simple

What do we use it for?

Experiences in our lifetime, or another unfinished period.

• Have you ever had a job interview?

• I've never worked in an office.

Multiple Choice

1. I (never/go) to Vienna.

• I've never gone to Vienna.

• I has never gone to Vienna

• I never went to Vienna.

Multiple Choice

3. Oh no! I (lose) my wallet!

• lost

• lose

• have lost

News and recent events, often with a present result.

• They've just offered me the job. (Result = I got the job)

• She hasn't called me back yet. (Result = I'm still waiting to talk to her)

• We can use adjectives like: just, yet and already.

Unfinished states (when we talk about duration)

• I've only had this phone for a week.

• We've lived in London since 2010.

• We use for to give the duration or since to give the starting point

Past Simple

What do we use it for?

For completed past actions in a completed past time period

• She didn't get the job.

• Why did you miss the bus?

• We often use past time phrases like last week, a few days ago, when I was a child.

Examples:

• I haven't seen my English teacher since I left school.

• Since I left school, I haven't seen my English teacher.

Present Perfect or Past Simple?

How do we know when to use which?

We introduce a topic with the present perfect and then change to the past simple to talk about the details

I've had lots of job interviews. The last one was about three months ago - it was terrible.

I've lost my keys. Maybe I left them on the bus this morning.

Multiple Choice

8. I _____________ him since he ________ London 2 years ago.

• didn't see - have left

• haven't seen - left

• haven't seen - leave

Multiple Choice

9. True or False?

My niece has studied English since she was 4.

• True

• False

Don't use present perfect when you describe an action that happened at a particular time

They left yesterday / at four o' clock / ten minutes ago.

Multiple Choice

10. Ms. Khanh _______ at that school since she _______ .

• worked - has graduated

• has worked - graduated

• have worked - graduated